Often Irreverent, Mostly Rational Blog for Fans of the Toronto Blue Jays. One Day, We'll Be Perfect.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

What's this about the tickets you say?

We're really going to stop picking at this scab any day now, but we thought we'd mention that both Mike Wilner and Bob Elliot weigh in this morning on this Masshole-centric ticket-selling scheme that the Blue Jays have cooked up.

Wilner: "The term 'galactically stupid' comes to mind." (Looks like somebody watched A Few Good Men recently. We never pegged Wilner for a Tom Cruise fan.)

Elliot: "I'm no ticket broker, but shouldn't Jays fans be treated No. 1 in their own backyard?"

Let's hope that a few mainstream media mentions will get the ball rolling on this story, because we'd like to see that mangy scoundrel Paul Godfrey dragged out in public and forced to eat a bit of dog poop over this.

In order to get people to come all the way from Detroit or Boston, that is make travel arrangements, book hotels, etc..., You have to offer them some increased value. They could always buy tickets to these games as Toronto only sells out once a year. By giving people front line access you are increasing the likelihood that they will chose Toronto as a destination for their travels. Brilliant marketing move. I have already received offers to other MLB teams as well, so it doesn't seem like the Jays are alone in this.

In short, if you're in Boston or Detroit, and you're going to truck your whole family to T-Dot for the weekend, it takes more than three weeks of planning, whereas it takes all of about five minutes to decide, 'hey, I'm gonna wonder down to the RC box office tonight and grab me a pair of 500 levels for $20', which is how the majority of Jays tickets are sold.

So while the optics are undeniably bad, giving people who would come from out of town more time to sort out their trip makes perfect sense.